Time-tested Technique Meets High-Tech Advancement in This Father-Son Auto Glass Duo
By Abby Bowman
Drop by Choice Auto Glass in Minot, North Dakota, on any given business day. You’ll likely find the owner, Jeff Hooker, chatting with a customer over a cup of coffee or wrangling a gasket set on a classic car. You’re just as likely to find his son, Blake, handling the shop’s digital communications or performing a camera recalibration on a new-model vehicle.
The 55-year-old and 20-year-old father-and-son team might come from different generations, but they believe their combined passions and perspectives will help successfully guide their company into the future.
Jeff founded Choice Auto Glass in 2011 after working for a larger auto glass company for about 15 years. He wanted to provide a level of customer care that he couldn’t at his previous job.
“At the end of the day, people do business with people,” he says.
Jeff created a family atmosphere at his own business, so much so that he has customers who will stop by just for coffee. Jeff and Blake have just one employee, technician Erik Klug. The three of them provide personalized care to each customer. Choice Auto Glass offers auto glass replacement, rock-chip repair and recalibration.
The shop’s approach to customer service isn’t the only thing Jeff keeps old-school. He’s comfortable working on classic cars from as far back as the 1940s.
“You’ve got to do everything if you want everybody’s work,” Jeff says.
He understands why others might be reluctant to work on older cars, but Choice Auto Glass is available to do things others won’t. Jeff recently worked on a 1959 Ford pickup truck. He knew he’d need extra time and space for the job, so he waited until he could spare both before taking on the work.
Not only did the windshield require a gasket set, but the truck had chrome mouldings that went into the gaskets, curved edges on the backglass and “knockers” on the windshield.
“You either need to be an octopus, or you’ve got to have help [for a job like that],” Jeff says.
Learning the techniques of auto-glass work from his dad has greatly benefited Blake.
“It makes a big difference [learning] from someone who’s worked on glass for a while,” he says.
In turn, Blake saw the industry trend toward Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and the need for recalibration. He decided to introduce a new service at the shop.
“We’re evolving our shop with what’s evolving around us, being able to match what’s changing in the glass field so we don’t get left behind,” he says.
As a child of the digital age, Blake is also well versed in text- and email-customer communication, which is now standard at shops.
“If I didn’t have him around, I’d be kind of getting lost in the dark,” says Jeff, who wasn’t as accustomed to electronic communication.
The difference between their old-school and new-school mindsets can sometimes cause challenges, Jeff says, but ultimately, combining their skills is for the best.
Both say that mixing their mindsets allows them to provide a wide variety of nuanced services to their market.
Can’t We All Just Get Along?
Intergenerational cooperation is a struggle in many industries, not just auto glass. According to Forbes, this is the first time in history that five generations are in the workforce at once. Gen-Z all the way up to the Silent Generation can be found working side by side. The mix of lived experiences and social norms is bound to cause conflict.
Thankfully, there are plenty of tips for how to handle this common issue. Here are a few that auto-glass technicians and shop owners might find most helpful.
Examine Stereotypes
Many of the complaints technicians have expressed about each other echo generation stereotypes. Boomer and Gen-X techs are stuck in their ways, younger ones say, while older techs say the youngsters lack work ethic.
While these complaints are based on lived experience, Forbes says it’s important to recognize the biases we’re viewing people through. If a more-experienced technician realizes they tend to think of all young people as lazy, for example, that might help them understand why they find the newer techs they work with seemingly lacking follow-through.
Ask “Why”
According to the Harvard Business Review, one of the best ways to overcome these biases is to share information.
“Just as we wouldn’t expect our actions to be accurately understood or universally agreed with when we travel to other places, we shouldn’t expect our reasons for approaching our work in particular ways to be clear to people who have grown up and started their professional lives at different points in time,” Megan Gerhardt, director of leadership development at Miami University’s Farmer School of Business, tells the publication.
In the auto-glass world, if a young technician asks why a more seasoned tech prefers the old-school methods they use, the young technician might both gain insight into their coworker and learn a time-tested technique or two.
Find Common Ground
Forbes says that most workers want the same things, regardless of their generation. They all want to have a good schedule, do work that matters, have empathetic bosses, earn a good salary and have career-growth opportunities, according to the publication.
Technicians of all ages talking to each other about why they joined the industry or what they enjoy about working with auto glass could build a bond.
The Tale of Two Generations
Not all old-school and new-school technicians complement each other as well as Jeff and Blake Hooker do. AGRR asked technicians on social media about some pain points they had while working with each other. Here are the most common issues.
Grievances with Old-School Techs:
They have done their job the same way for a long time and don’t want to evolve.
They’re less willing to invest in more costly, up-to-date tools and technology.
Grievances with New Techs:
They don’t listen to instructions or explanations from supervisors or more experienced technicians.
They are overconfident in their knowledge.
They aren’t as willing to work in adverse weather conditions, like the peak heat of summer months.
Some more-experienced technicians added that it’s hard to find young people or new people who want to enter the trades to begin with, so there’s a deficit of new technicians.
Abby Bowman is the editor for AGRR magazine. Email her at abowman@glass.com and follow her on LinkedIn.
To view the laid-in version of this issue in our digital edition, CLICK HERE.
